Gluten-Free Dog Treats

For furry canine friends that require a special diet, these gluten-free dog treats are the jam! They're quick and easy to make, and are a BIG hit with all the OPP (other people's pets) I encounter along the way. I think it also helps that I chose a squirrel shaped cookie cutter...

• 1 ripe banana, mashed
• 3 tbsp peanut butter (I prefer crunchy)
• 1 egg
• 1 3/4 cup gram (chickpea) flour
• 1/4 cup rolled oats

Tools you'll need are:

• one medium & one small mixing bowl
• measuring cup & spoons
• fork or mixing spoon
• rolling pin
• fun cookie cutter or butter knife
• baking sheet
• parchment paper
• cooling rack

Before you get started, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

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In the small bowl, mash up your peeled banana with a fork.

Add the peanut butter and egg. Stir with a fork or spoon until completely mixed together.

Set aside.

In the medium bowl, thoroughly mix the oats and gram flour.

Now, add the wet mix to the dry and stir until the dough forms a ball.

Sprinkle your work surface with gram flour.

Pat the dough ball into a thick pancake with your hands, place on the floured surface and coat the top of the dough with more flour.

Dust your rolling pin with flour.

Roll the dough evenly until it's approximately 1/4" thick.

Make a small mound of gram flour for your cookie cutter. Coating the bottom cutting edge of the cutter in flour before each use will make getting the dough out of the cutter much easier.

Use your Tetris skills to cut as many treats out of your dough as possible.

*If you don't have a cookie cutter, use a butter knife to cut the dough into bite sized squares!

Place your first round of freshly cut treats onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Squish all the left over dough bits together and repeat the rolling process. Don't forget to re-flour the work surface or your little guys will get stuck!

Repeat this process until you've used up all the dough.

Place your hard work in the oven for 30-35 minutes and bake until golden brown.

After taking them out of the oven, remove the treats from the pan and place them on a cooling rack.

Let them cool completely before giving them to a (furry) loved one.

*Thanks to Stella for being such a good looking model / tester! And thanks to Audrey for taking such cute pup photos.